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Passports, Visas, and Other Information

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Your passport is your official travel document that serves as a formal permit to travel in a foreign country, allows for returning into your home country, and assists as a form of proof of identification. Each student must obtain a passport and an F-1 student visa from their home government under whatever regulations that government establishes for traveling out of the country.

If you do not yet have a valid U.S. F-1 student visa, you must apply at the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate with jurisdiction over your home country of permanent residence. Since this process can take a long time, you should begin the application process as far in advance as possible. Holidays (e.g., Christmas and New Year's) and the summer often create long delays.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security requires personal interviews for most U.S. visa applications. Please remember:

To expect your interview to be conducted in English

Not to bring friends or family to the interview; you must speak on your own, be familiar with your academic program at NCCC, and answer why you wish to study in the United States

To make a good impression in a short time; consulates are very busy places

To answer questions about your "ties to your homeland" and about your plans to return

To verify that you have enough financial resources to support yourself (minimum $19,000 U.S. equivalent per year)

International students must pay a $200 SEVIS fee (Form I-901) before applying for a visa. You can pay the fee online to the Department of Homeland Security. Consulates will not issue your visa if you do not produce a receipt showing that the fee has been paid.